Tissue Composition and Biomechanical Property Changes in the Vaginal Wall of Ovariectomized Young Rats

Figure 4

Protein expression of collagen subtypes I/III and a-SMA in the distal segments of the anterior vaginal wall. Representative Western blots of (a) Collagen I, (b) collagen III, and (c) a-SMA. Protein expression was normalized to β-actin. G1: Group 1 (the control group), G2: Group 2 (2 weeks after ovariectomy), G3: Group 3 (4 weeks after ovariectomy), G4: Group 4 (16 weeks after ovariectomy). The data are presented as the mean±SEM of n=6 animals/group. Significant differences (P<0.05) are denoted ().

(a) Collagen I

(b) Collagen III

(c) a-SMA